Scaling Affordable Minigrids through Expandable 2nd life Batteries (SAMTE)

通过可扩展的二次电池 (SAMTE) 扩展经济实惠的迷你电网

• 批准号: 10045436
• 金额: $ 74.77万
• 依托单位: RLM LIMITED
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Collaborative R&D
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=10045436
• 关键词: Scaling; Affordable; Minigrids; through; Expandable

According to the World Bank, clean power minigrids are the least-cost electrification solution for 300 million people in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the high upfront CAPEX cost of minigrid systems, uncertain customer demand, and restrictive financial ecosystem significantly impede sector growth and sustainability. Within this framework, batteries are a major obstacle and intervention pathway, as they account for up to 30% of a minigrid's cost (the single most expensive component) and need regular replacement. Challenging this "battery barrier" our project will field pilot Vittoria Technology's innovative, digital battery leasing platform (Storage-as-a-Service) and Aceleron's scalable 2nd life Li-ion batteries at three MeshPower minigrids in Rwanda / Uganda. This pilot will demonstrate the technical, financial, and social impact benefits of the scalable battery leasing model -- and sustainable commercial potential across the continent.Field studies confirm that reliable, affordable energy storage is critical to the long-term viability of off-grid renewable systems. Without affordability, customers cannot purchase electricity \> minigrid operators cannot fund battery maintenance \> power is not reliable \> customers defect from the minigrid and projects fail. In contrast, Vittoria Technology's scalable battery leasing with expandable storage products (like Aceleron 2nd life) enable a Virtuous Cycle supporting "right-sized" affordable battery banks, lower cost-reflective tariffs, higher energy use, greater community impact (e.g. via PUE, e-cooking), demand and revenue growth, and affordable "as needed" capacity expansion.Alongside MeshPower, this pilot will field test Vittoria Technology's low-overhead battery leasing tools (including prototype digital platform automating Battery sizing & lease terms, Credit risk assessment, Local vendor matching, Contract onboarding), legal and financial frameworks, and remote monitoring/control processes to deploy our first semi-commercial trial battery leases. Likewise, this pilot will test the field performance of Aceleron's scalable 2nd life batteries as capacity expansion "modules," adding them into the energy storage architecture of 3 minigrids through unique integration strategies we have assessed to allow combination of dissimilar battery products and age -- including 1st life Li-ion and legacy lead acid.Through expandable, modular battery technology and finance, our companies can enable affordable, sustainable minigrids that lower LCOE and increase adaptability to grow capacity alongside customer demand. Our innovative approach will 1) provide affordable advanced battery replacement / expansion for aging minigrids in sub-Saharan Africa (where 70% of minigrid batteries are short-lived lead acid, SEforALL/Bloomberg); and 2) support deployment of new minigrids that are lower-cost and scalable. Combined, these two avenues can catalyze growth and sustainability in the sector.

根据世界银行的说法，清洁能源Minigrids是撒哈拉以南非洲3亿人的成本不足的电气化解决方案。但是，Minigrid系统的高前期资本支出，不确定的客户需求和限制性金融生态系统会大大妨碍部门的增长和可持续性。在此框架内，电池是一个主要的障碍和干预途径，因为它们占MINIGRID成本（最昂贵的组件）的30％，并且需要定期更换。挑战这个“电池障碍”，我们的项目将在卢旺达 /乌干达的三个网格Minigrids上实现Vittoria Technology的创新，数字电池租赁平台（存储量为服务）和Aceleron的Aceleron可伸缩的第二寿命。该飞行员将证明可扩展的电池租赁模型的技术，财务和社会影响优势 - 以及整个非洲大陆的可持续商业潜力。Field研究证实，可靠，负担得起的能源存储对于离网可再生系统的长期可行性至关重要。没有负担能力，客户将无法购买电力\> Minigrid操作员将无法为电池维护提供资金\>电源不是可靠的\>客户缺陷，而项目失败了。相反，Vittoria Technology使用可扩展的存储产品（例如Aceleron 2n fife）的可扩展电池租赁实现了一个良性的循环，以支持“右尺寸”负担得起的电池组，较低的成本更高的关税，较高的能源使用，更高的能源使用，社区影响力更大低离头电池租赁工具（包括原型数字平台自动化电池尺寸和租赁条款，信用风险评估，本地供应商匹配，合同入职），法律和财务框架以及远程监控/控制流程，以部署我们的第一个半商业试用电池租赁。 Likewise, this pilot will test the field performance of Aceleron's scalable 2nd life batteries as capacity expansion "modules," adding them into the energy storage architecture of 3 minigrids through unique integration strategies we have assessed to allow combination of dissimilar battery products and age -- including 1st life Li-ion and legacy lead acid.Through expandable, modular battery technology and finance, our companies can enable affordable, sustainable minigrids that lower LCOE并提高适应性与客户需求一起增长能力。我们的创新方法将为撒哈拉以南非洲的衰老Minigrid提供负担得起的高级电池替换 /扩展（其中70％的Minigrid电池是短暂的铅酸，Seforall / bloomberg）； 2）支持部署较低成本且可扩展的新的Minigrids。这两个途径结合在一起，可以催化该行业的生长和可持续性。